DNA and RNA are biomaterials, and are advantageous because they have no toxicity in vivo, and may be freely controlled on the nano scale using base pair bonds. Many techniques using DNA have been developed, and thorough research into DNA is ongoing.
RNA may play a more important role in transferring genetic information than DNA, but RNA is easily degraded and is expensive to synthesize compared to DNA, and thus limitations are imposed on research and development thereof.
(Paper Literature)
“Preparations of a RNA-lipid complex film and its physical properties” (2001 Oxford University Press, Nucleic Acids Research Supplement No. 1 61-62, Yu Hoshino et al.)
The RNA film disclosed in the above (Paper Literature) is made up of RNA by mixing RNA, extracted from yeast, with a cation material, but is disadvantageous because it is not composed exclusively of RNA but further includes the cation material, and is thus unsuitable for use in medical applications. Furthermore, complicated processes are required to extract RNA from yeast, undesirably increasing manufacturing costs.
Despite the advantages of RNA, research and development aimed at improving existing methods of manufacturing a membrane comprising RNA has been limited due to excessively high RNA synthesis costs, and it is difficult to obtain a membrane composed exclusively of RNA. Hence, the need for a novel production method that is able to solve such problems comes to the fore.